BIG News: Funding Opportunities eNewsletter

Volume #6: Issue #8: August 2003

Welcome to BIG News

BIG News wants to help you raise more money. Each month, we deliver powerful intelligence on trends within the industry and compelling lessons that fundraisers can profit from. Our profiles of successful non-profits and Foundations provide additional insight and new ways to get more out of your fundraising efforts.

Guidance

The Top 10 Reasons Grant Proposals Get Rejected

Metasoft's experience serving over 3,000 non-profit clients and its close contact with thousands of foundation and corporate funders has given us unique insight into the key reasons for proposal rejection. The following "Top 10 Rejection Reasons" list is culled from our experience:

  1. Poor fit: Foundations and corporations want to know that a non-profit has thought about their funding priorities and how their interests converge. If your organization and its project needs don't match up closely with the funding interests of a foundation or corporation, your chances of receiving a grant will be very low.
  1. Proposal Guidelines not adhered to: When a foundation says it wants 12 point font and sets a limit of no more than 20 pages, they mean it. It is vital that you respect the formatting guidelines of the donor as it allows them to more easily evaluate proposals. To do otherwise will almost always result in your proposal being discarded.
  1. Late Submission: Application deadlines are usually tied to foundation or corporate board meetings. If your proposal is sent in late it reflects poorly on your organizational capabilities and your ability to act with due diligence.
  1. Outcomes not provided: Government funders, foundations and corporate donors are increasingly asking non-profits to demonstrate measurable outcomes or benefits of their grant proposal. Besides showing the direct benefit or your work, include something about the positive impact on the community as a whole, as well as any potential benefits for the future.
  1. Duplication of service: Being unique is one of those intangibles that spark the interest of donors, so you must attempt to clearly differentiate your organisation from other service providers. Outline how your programs differ from others; present any unique demographic or constituencies you represent; detail changes to your program over time; and explain how the funds will help to address emerging needs.
  1. Blanket proposals or fishing expeditions: These kinds of proposals tell a funder that you don't care about their time or background - and grant officers are expert at spotting them.
  1. Sustainability not anticipated: Every class of donor wants to see that some thought, planning and strategic analysis has been undertaken that shows your organization is aiming for greater self-sufficiency. Sustainability runs parallel to the development of funding relationships and partnerships. Many donors will ask flat out: how do you plan to sustain this initiative over time?
  1. Unrealistic expectations: A non-profit organization needs to assess which foundation is more likely to fund larger requests. A small foundation may have a history of giving grants in the $5,000 range. This would not be the right foundation to ask for a million dollars. It also takes time to build an ongoing relationship with a donor, particularly when you're asking for a great deal of money. Just because your cause is important does not make your organization their highest funding priority.
  1. Inaccurate, vague or generally poor writing: Errors in financial accounting, for example, gravely undermine your credibility. Vague or inaccurate proposals also make it difficult for a grant officer to review and evaluate your proposal, even though they may see huge value in what you do. Try to keep in mind that a successful proposal will engage the reader and hold their interest, while demonstrating a compelling reason why your organization should be supported.
  1. No donor recognition: Many donors - particularly corporate donors - will want to know how their contribution will be appreciated or recognized. This increases their confidence that recognition for their contribution will be forthcoming. Overlooking donor recognition is one of the most common and easy to avoid errors.

BIG Picture: Few things in this world are guaranteed. But one thing is certain: avoid the pitfalls of the Top 10 and you will dramatically increase your grant proposal success ratio.

Foundation Watch

Du Maurier Arts Council Just Keeps Giving ... But For How Long?

In the last thirty years the Du Maurier Arts Council has given away over $60 million to 675 arts organizations in every province and territory. It lays claim to the title of the largest private sector funding body in the country and in July gave away grants totalling $2.025 million, to dozens of performance-driven arts organizations throughout the country.

"The thing I find most satisfying with this council is that they're encouraging cutting edge innovation," says spokesperson Louise Fleischmann. Where many companies or granting bodies might "go for the very big and safe and well known," Du Maurier looks for something a bit different.

A good example of this practice can be found in the Calgary Opera, which approached the Council a few years ago with a proposal to write, direct and stage its own contemporary Canadian opera. The result was "Filumena", which premiered earlier this year.

Although Fleischmann is careful not to "denigrate" other arts sponsors, she hints that larger, institutional organizations - "the banks and IBMs of the world" - prefer to stage safe, traditional performances like the opera Carmen.

The Du Maurier Arts Council, "is the only granting body that is ready to go and help the young contemporary people."

More importantly, Du Maurier has "always been there" to support them. The question is, for how much longer?

The Future of Tobacco Sponsorship

Traditionally, cigarette companies have been happy to sponsor sporting events or arts and culture as a means of reaching more consumers and building brand recognition. But in 1998, amendments to the Tobacco Act placed restrictions on sponsorship of these events, to be phased in over a five-year period. The five year lag was intended to give non-profits and event organizers time to find new sponsors.

As of Oct. 1, tobacco sponsorship of the arts in this country will be prohibited. The legislation, suggests Fleischmann, "is very tricky," and it's impossible to say for sure what the future will hold for Du Maurier and its parent company, Imperial Tobacco.

One of the first casualties of the legislation was the Matinee Fashion Foundation, an Imperial initiative which closed its doors in May. Imperial said the Fashion Foundation had contributed more than $50 million in marketing support and business development grants since it was started up in 1992.

Even though cigarette companies and their king-sized sponsorship dollars will be exiting the arts scene very soon, organizations who were recipients of their largess will still have places to turn. Other advertisers will be eager to step into the fold and associate themselves with the positive attributes of their arts or sporting event sponsorship.

The European experience provides some sense of what might happen come October 1st. Tough legislation introduced in the EU in 2001 began forcing big tobacco out of event sponsorship and the arts much earlier than in Canada.

No where was the impact of this legislation felt more strongly than in the world of auto racing and its most expensive outlet, Formula One (F1). While many cried foul and begged for an exemption, computer consultants, telecommunications companies, insurance agents, software and games developers and the confectioners quietly began filling the void.

Although the tobacco companies have continued to find innovative ways around the law, some forward-looking teams have started to wean themselves off their addiction to tobacco money.

One team in particular, BMW-Williams, took the conscious decision to shut tobacco out completely, then turned around and signed a lucrative sponsorship deal with quit-smoking aid NiQuitinCQ, a product of GlaxoSmithKline. Other prominent advertisers in the Williams team now include Hewlett Packard (HP), Allianz, FedEx and 7up.

BIG Picture: Tobacco companies have been the bedrock of Canadian events and arts sponsorship for decades. But as organizations like Du Maurier get pushed out of the field, others will line up to replace them. The trick is to find out which industries and which companies would be most like to seek out arts partnerships in a tobacco-free marketplace.

Sector Trends

BC Technology Partnership Aims for Replication

There are only two donors in the country - Trillium and the BC Technology Social Venture Partners - who explicitly back non-profits that replicate successful social programs. At least one of these funders, the BC Technology partnership, backs replication as a way to enhance the overall value and effectiveness of their granting dollars.

"Very loosely, the view was if there are particular groups who have a really wonderful idea, (replicating these) can be useful to lots more than just a few people," suggests Kathleen Speakman, Executive Director.

BC Technology is a relatively new entity, made up of a group of business leaders from the province's technology, venture capital and related services industries, that provide financial and human resources to non-profits. Partners in the venture pool their funds and select charitable organizations to assist with both money and expertise.

"The thing about this that's really neat is it involves something comparatively new in a formal sense ... it involves engaging people and asking (them) to participate both with their money time expertise and skills."

One of the partnership's early experiences with replication involved a recovery program called the Women's Addiction Foundation. Substance abuse, suggests Speakman, is very highly co-related with trauma at an early age and women generally suffer trauma at a much higher rate then men. "So it makes sense to develop a program that is customized for women."

The plan was to pilot an after-care trauma program that had been experimented with and developed as a model in the U.S., but had never been tried in Canada. Because the model had a component of innovation, it qualified for a grant from Speakman's organization.

The partners have already begun producing a manual that can be distributed to any social service agency in Canada. Once the Women's Addiction Foundation has come back with a preliminary analysis, "then they will be reassessing, redesigning and redelivering ... and out of this will come (a) model to replicate."

Speakman notes that BC Technology recently completed its first year of the project and plans to fund again next year too. Providing multiyear grants, of course, is one of the chief requirements for donors who want to support replication. "You take the view that it is going to take some time to build."

What makes Speakman's organization truly different from other donors is its mixture of "venture type grants" and "traditional grants". The venture-driven donations tend to be multiyear commitments that are intended to strengthen an organization; traditional granting is driven by the needs and interests of BC Technology's members.

Since it started up in July of 2001, BC Technology Partners has raised almost $500,000 for its venture type grants, distributing $150,000 of those dollars to seven different organizations. On the traditional side they've raised over $750,000, of which $280,000 has been dished out to 11 groups.

"With the venture type grants we have 56 (donor) partners now," most of which are from the high tech world, she explains. Out of those 56 partners, "two thirds have in one way or another been involved in providing expertise and skills."

Replicating Success

A recent report produced by the Stanford Social Innovation Review called Going to Scale: The Challenge of Replicating Social Programs, illuminatingly outlines the benefits and challenges of the replication trend.

The author, Jeffrey L. Bradach, says the need for replication stems from the fact that - with a few notable exceptions - the non-profit sector is comprised of "cottage enterprises," each operating in a single neighbourhood in a single city or town.

"Time, funds and imagination are poured into new programs that at best reinvent the wheel, while the potential of programs that have already proven their effectiveness remains sadly underdeveloped."

Some of the challenges of replication include:

  • Is there enough substantive evidence of success to justify replication?
  • Can you provide evidence that desired results will be sustained over time?
  • Do you have systems in place to track key performance data going forward?
  • Can you articulate your organization's "theory of change" - which reflects your view of why the program works and an understanding of the activities required to produce a successful outcome.

Some of the benefits:

  • Easier to attract resources
  • Increased speed of program implementation
  • Access to resources and expertise in fund raising, human resources and legal services.
  • An ability to tap into ideas and knowledge generated by other organizations.

Of course, "replicating programs that do not produce results is at best a waste of precious social resources and at worst a source of active harm to the participants."

BIG Picture: The number of funders who back replication is still quite small. But donors today are increasingly looking to maximize their investments and should be open to any practical or innovative ideas that bring greater efficiency and results to the sector.

Success Story

Innovative Alberta Career Network Helps Kids and Industry

What could a young person ready to graduate from high school want more than a career network driven by the needs of industry? Since its inception in 1997, CAREERS: The Next Generation has helped match thousands of students with an equal number of Alberta-based employers.

Today it works in 120 communities throughout the province, helping youth develop pathways to career success. Janet Riopel, President and CEO, sees her organization's role as helping, "to bridge the gap between teachers, employers and students in order to develop strong vibrant communities."

CAREERS traces its origins to Eric Newell, Chairman and CEO of Syncrude, who recognized that the province was facing a critical shortage of skilled workers. "We're trying to address the needs of industry while also providing opportunities to students,” adds Riopel.“It's a win-win solution."

Riopel says industry and government realized that the province needed a more effective way to train students and turn them on to new and exciting career choices. "So that when they graduate, they can go into something where there will be an abundance of job opportunities."

CAREERS' first initiative was with trades and "getting students interested in exploring the trades sector as a first choice for their career." Since then, CAREERS has branched out into information technology and health services.

Corporations, notes Riopel, will often approach CAREERS directly, with her organization providing fresh ideas, direction and support. "It's a very collaborative process."

Where They Raise Funds

CAREERS raises money primarily through corporate and foundation donors. Although they don't presently raise funds through events, CAREERS does organize an annual Scholarship Celebration, which brings the organization recognition and some "good PR".

To help CAREERS capitalize on its neat fit with corporate donors, Riopel uses BIG Online to identify potential prospects and match giving interests. "It's an easy way to access information. Everything is organized. It's good for searching and the newsletter is useful, with lots of hints and trends ... It's one stop shopping, which is what I really like."

Riopel says a recent investment from TransCanada Pipelines Limitedwas indicative of the organization's use of BIG. Using the database CAREERS' was able to develop a deeper understanding of the petrochemical company's current giving interests, projects and patterns. The next step was simply, "finding a project that met their goals and objectives."

Identifying what companies want to do with their philanthropic dollars and where they're currently putting their money, "is something we've found that works really well (with BIG)."

Like many other users, Riopel relies on BIG Online to help her refine searches and make sure she's going after the best possible prospects. Strong prospect matching is critical, she notes, as it translates into long term stability for both the non-profit and their corporate partner - who can rely on the non-profit to help it meet its philanthropic goals.

"If you can use a resource like BIG Online to find that cause ... you're that much more ahead of the game."

CAREERS' overall funding goal for this year is $2 million, with revenue for 2003 being used to fund ongoing programs as well as new initiatives - such as expanding into a younger student audience and streamlining public presentations in order to continue, "to leverage technology to its full advantage."